It’s disappointing not to have two weeks of Wade Phillips Hot Seat chatter to look forward to. (What can you say? The guy is fun to dump on.) But at least we have reason to believe the Cowboys will be in the thick of the NFC East race now. Even if you’re not a fan of America’s Team (and Mexico’s Team), you have to admit, because their NFL-high five primetime games left (counting Thanksgiving), football is more exciting with the Cowboys being relevant.

Dallas’ 13-play, 80-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter against Houston – capped by a Marion Barber one-yard touchdown burst – was the type of drive that turns a season around. It was also a microcosm of Sunday’s game. On the drive, Tony Romo completed three different third downs of nine yards or longer. He bought himself time in the pocket and worked deep into his progressions on several throws, hitting four different receivers on the drive, including Roy Williams three times.

We should probably give Williams a week off from his whipping boy duties. The former Texas Longhorn was tremendous in catching a game-high five passes for 117 yards and two scores. Williams consistently won battles at the line of scrimmage, and he showed commendable fluidity making catches on the move. The key was that Jason Garrett played to Williams’ strengths by asking him to run straight-line patterns, as opposed to direction-changing routes.

As glad as we all should be to see the Cowboys avoid the irrelevance that generally awaits an 0-3 team, let’s hope Jerry Jones’ men don’t turn in too many more performances like this. Otherwise, we’ll once again get the nonstop reminders that the Super Bowl is in Cowboys Stadium this year, and that Jones REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wants to have the first true home field advantage in the game’s history.

On Houston’s side of things, that secondary that gave up over 400 yards passing to both the Colts and Redskins – you know, the secondary we all conveniently overlooked these past two weeks while hastily editing our preseason picks and branding Gary Kubiak’s club as the breakout club of 2010? – is officially porous.

Romo, in completing 23 of 30 passes for 284 yards, exposed Houston’s flaws at cornerback. First-round rookie Kareem Jackson struggles early in coverage. If it’s zone, Jackson’s not always sure how long to carry the receiver. If it’s man, he doesn’t always deliver an effective jam (no rhyme intended). Opposite Jackson, second-year pro Brice McCain had trouble when Cowboy receivers redirected late in their route.

Both young corners have the talent to improve. It’d help if safeties Eugene Wilson and Bernard Pollard – especially Pollard – flashed the same big-play prowess they flashed late last season. And it would also help if superstar Mario Williams (and “superstar” is not an appellation to be used lightly) broke his habit of vanishing every few weeks. Williams was a nonfactor this game despite facing single blocking most of the afternoon.

No need for a “What’s wrong with the Saints?” piece – it’s just one loss. And let’s refrain from chalking up the home loss to the absence of Reggie Bush. Heck, we talked in the Week 2 Preview Podcast about how whenever Bush goes down, Lance Moore steps up. Sunday, the unheralded fifth-year veteran caught six balls for 149 yards and two touchdowns. He also set up a first quarter touchdown by returning a punt 72 yards.

The Saints still lost, of course. Why? The Falcons’ rushing attack. Michael Turner, Jason Snelling and lead-blocking fullback Ovie Mughelli confirmed what we already knew: the way to beat the good-but-certainly-not-great New Orleans defensive front seven is to run right at it. Not only does a power run game keep Drew Brees off the field while allowing a team to control tempo and tone, but it also minimizes the creativity and aggressiveness of Gregg Williams’ blitzes. This brings to mind that brilliant Mike Tyson axiom (and yes, those last four words really did just show up in that order): everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth. The Saints defense is crafty…until it gets hit in the mouth.

The Falcons hit the Saints in the mouth in the form of 50 runs for 202 yards Sunday. Turner, looking every bit like the 244-pound bowling ball he is, ran 30 times for 114 yards. Snelling, a more upright runner with comparable downhill power, had 14 carries for 62 yards. And Mughelli – well, he basically punched his ticket to Hawaii simply because he is a fullback and his name has now been mentioned twice on a mainstream website.

One last note: Falcons head coach Mike Smith went for it three times on fourth down, including twice on fourth-and-two in a first-half series. The Falcons reached the end zone after being successful on both of those fourth-and-two attempts. They later failed on a fourth-and-six inside the final four minutes of regulation, and the Saints promptly capitalized on by matriculating downfield for a game-tying field goal. But credit Smith for sticking to his plan and playing to win.

4.) Killer kickers

Those of us who shrewdly picked the Falcons to be serious contenders in the NFC South this year (and there actually wound up being quite a few of us) can thank Saints kicker Garrett Hartley for those satisfying feelings of smugness we’re all enjoying. Hartley badly missed a 29-yard field goal in overtime (actually, no need to say “badly missed” – the only way to miss from 29 yards is “badly”), prompting Sean Payton and the front office to schedule a tryout for kickers on Monday.

A kicker tryout? That’s like the Saints and Hartley dating for three years, getting into a fight and the Saints deciding to go home with a stripper the same night. The Saints will regret acting on their anger in the morning.

Hartley is the same kicker who booted three 40-plus-yard field goals in Super Bowl XLIV (by the way, let’s lose the Roman Numerals on the Super Bowls now – they’re a pain to decipher). He’s the same kicker who nailed a 40-yard game-winner in the NFC Championship two weeks before that. Oh, and he’s also the same kicker who booted the game winner just last week at San Francisco!

Yes, Hartley is 4/7 on the season. But do three misses in the regular season really trump four huge makes in the postseason? Besides, the only kickers out there who are any good are Dave Rayner and Kris Brown, and they’re out there only because, lately, they’ve gotten quite good at doing what Hartley just did against the Falcons.

Hartley wasn’t even the worst kicker in football Sunday. That distinction went to Oakland’s $16 million man, Sebastian Janikowski. The Polish Whatever His Nickname Is These Days missed three field goals in the Raiders loss at Arizona, including the would-be game-winner from 32 yards. If Janikowski weren’t an Al Davis favorite, the Raiders would be competing with the Saints for bum kickers to bring in. You just hope Janikowski’s awful day doesn’t stay with him and create a Mike Vanderjagt-like fall from grace.

5.) The lost fumble that’s not a turnover

One more note from the Saints-Falcons game, then we’ll move on. In the third quarter, the Saints gave the ball to backup running back Chris Ivory on a fourth-and-one play. Ivory fumbled and Atlanta recovered. The play goes in the books as a turnover. But it shouldn’t.

Technically, there was no turnover of possession by the fumble because the play yielded the same result as if Ivory had been held short of the first down (which, by the way, he would have been if he’d held onto the ball). The point of the turnover statistic is to reflect sudden changes in possession. This was not a sudden change of possession.

An interception or lost fumble on fourth down or on the final play of a half should not be classified as a turnover. Just like we don’t classify red-zone field goals as red-zone scores. This, coincidentally (or not), is a perfect segue to…

Have we ever seen a team play as well on offense as the Broncos did Sunday and score only 13 points? It’s amazing what zero touchdowns on five red zone trips will do to a bottom line. The Broncos racked up 519 yards, including 476 passing from Kyle Orton. Remarkably, Orton did not set a franchise record for single game passing yards. Even more remarkable is that the man who holds that record is not named John Elway. (Jake Plummer has the mark at 499.)

There are two ways to look at the Broncos after Week 3.

One: Josh McDaniels has an ingenious system and four excellent receivers to execute it (a willowy, speedy, budding star in first-round rookie Demaryius Thomas, a silky smooth role player in Jabar Gaffney, a shifty underneath threat in Eddie Royal and a highlight reel wizard in Brandon Lloyd, who leads the NFL with six catches of 25-plus yards this season). The Broncos showed they can dominate with this system and talent – they just need to do a better job at finishing drives.

Or, two: the Broncos just played a team that doesn’t mind letting the Denver skill position players “get theirs” because that team knows it can stop this offense when it counts. Of the two scenarios, the second is most likely. Recall that Indy gladly let Brandon Marshall catch 21 passes for 200 yards against them last season. In that game, they still held the Broncos to 16 points.

The Broncos talk about how they accept the fact that Peyton Manning will move the ball up and down the field, and how if they can just bog down in the red zone, they have a serious chance to win. What they don’t realize is that the Colts take the exact same approach to them. The only difference is, the Colts succeed.

Denver does have plenty to be excited about offensively, though. Their front line, despite starting two rookies and untested first-year guard Stanley Daniels, kept the Colts pass-rush in check. (Left tackle Ryan Clady was particularly good against Dwight Freeney.) And Orton’s arm looks stronger than it did last season.

But it doesn’t matter in this matchup as long as Manning is on the other side. He loves facing the man coverage scheme of the Broncos, mainly because he’s willing to let Champ Bailey win against Reggie Wayne in order to exploit mismatches elsewhere. Sunday, Manning found Austin Collie 12 times for 171 yards and two touchdowns.

He also hit practice squad call-up Blair White (most predictable, yet still agreeable, nickname ever: The Blair White Project) for a score. In case you didn’t know, appearance-wise, White lives up to his last name. And, chances are, you already know what the BYU grad Collie looks like. This begs the question: before today, had any quarterback in NFL history ever thrown touchdown passes to two different white wide receivers in the same game?

7.) Drunk driving = superstar status

Is it just me, or did the mainstream media – and especially NBC during the Sunday night telecast – propel Braylon Edwards into superstar status this week? Last I checked, Edwards is a gifted receiver who often runs slipshod routes and, at times, seemingly plays with oven mitts on. That makes him not a superstar but, at best, a solid No. 1.

But you would have thought the man was Jerry Rice 2.0 the way everyone played up the story of his one quarter suspension. Too bad Edwards couldn’t have gotten busted during the offseason or in a smaller market. That would have made his DUI more forgivable, right?)

Of course, in the end, Edwards was a difference-maker against the Dolphins (two catches, 87 yards and a touchdown, plus sensational run-blocking). So maybe the hype was worth it. The most damning part about this whole ordeal for the NFL is that the Jets are right when they point out that players that have gotten a DUI on other teams have not been disciplined at all. Edwards’ de facto one-quarter suspension was a first.

But why did the Jets announce the one quarter plan before the game? They should have told the players and then kept it quiet. The media would have speculated, sure, but by then, the game would have already been going on. Thus, there would have been no distraction. Instead, the one quarter plan was announced, which is why the Dolphins wisely deferred to the second half after winning the coin toss (they knew that this likely meant one more possession for Edwards to miss).

There has, at least, been some good that has come from this whole mess: Edwards, knowing his image needs serious repair and that the NBC cameras would be all over him, finally shaved his hideous beard.

8.) Who the Hillis?It came in a losing effort, but how about the game Browns running back Peyton Hillis had against the Ravens? The former Broncos fullback who has somehow crept into Cleveland’s starting tailback position carried the ball 22 times for 144 yards and a touchdown against the staunch Ravens D. he also added 36 yards receiving.

The Browns front five dominated a Ravens front seven that came out looking like a group that was thinking about the Steelers (next week, CBS, 1:00). Hillis is a mechanical, if not choppy, runner, but he’s an absolute battering ram once he establishes downhill momentum.

The Chiefs are 3-0. Their most recent win was a blowout of a disoriented 49ers club that, on Sunday, showed serious signs of the Tin Man Syndrome. Still, the win legitimized this rising young Kansas City squad enough to warrant a “get to know their names” feature. Disclaimer: this positive attention isn’t to suggest that the Chiefs are a playoff contender – it’s still very, very early. But it is positive attention nonetheless.

So, who to learn about? You already know Matt Cassel is a caretaker being paid like a superstar. You already know Jamaal Charles is an uncommon home-run threat. You already know Dwayne Bowe is a talented wideout who occasionally lands in Todd Haley’s doghouse. You already know Dexter McCluster is Percy Harvin Sans Migraines. You already know Glenn Dorsey is a former first-round pick who could finally be coming to life as a 3-4 defensive end. You already know that the same goes for Derrick Johnson at inside linebacker. Okay then, here are two more names to add to the file (we’ll see how this week goes and, if necessary, add even more names down the road).

Tony Moeaki, tight end. The third-round rookie out of Iowa has the strong yet supple frame that coaches covet in a “big, athletic tight end”. He also has long arms and soft hands, which has allowed him to snatch a team-high 12 passes and two touchdowns on the season.

Brandon Flowers, cornerback. The third-year starter is close to being described as the “third-year sensation”. Flowers intercepted a pass for a second straight week Sunday (he ran last week’s pick back for six points). More impressive has been his shutdown ability, which he started to flash in 2009.

10.) Quick Hits

Unable to decide on a final story to create a nice round 10, I’m going to take the easy way out and drop in here some one-liner observations from all the other games.

***Charlie Batch’s pocket presence was close to flawless against the Bucs.

***Jimmy Clausen looked every bit like the unprepared rookie that he is. This isn’t meant as a harsh criticism of the Golden Domer. In just about any other situation, Clausen would still be learning from the bench. But the Panthers realize they have next to no chance with Matt Moore. So, Clausen, fairly or unfairly, is forced to play. He consistently held the ball too long against the Bengals Sunday. That was the crux of his problem. It will be interesting to see how much quicker he can get by next week. (If it’s not dramatically quicker, Carolina is in trouble.)

***It’s strange to see Redskins defensive lineman Lorenzo Alexander lining up at outside linebacker, though he wasn’t too bad in this role against the Rams.

***The Seahawks won because they got two kickoff return touchdowns from Leon Washington. Great comeback story, but this is the exact type of game we shouldn’t read too much into. San Diego must get better in special teams coverage; Seattle is dangerous at home. Both true statements. A third true statement: anyone who thinks the Seahawks are better than the Chargers is crazy.

***With Donovan McNabb headed back to Philly in Week 4, I figured you’ll be glad for a break from Eagles quarterback stories this week. Thus, I won’t acknowledge Michael Vick’s magnificent performance in Jacksonville. (Oops.)

One of the many bright spots in the Broncos’ 31-14 victory over the Seahawks was the debut of rookie receiver Demaryius Thomas. After sitting the season opener with soreness in the surgically-repaired foot he broke in pre-Draft workouts. Thomas did not start practicing without limitations until this past week.

But the Georgia Tech product showed the dynamic athleticism that made him a first-round pick. Thomas led the Broncos with eight catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. He lived up to the billing from Josh McDaniels as “the fastest player on the team” and showed fantastic power (for a wide receiver) running after the catch.

At 6’3”, 230, Thomas has the Brandon Marshall-like size that this offense needs (all of Denver’s other receiving targets are shifty space-oriented players). Thomas is finally getting to play in a pass-oriented system after basically being a role player in Georgia Tech’s run-option offense.

Posted by Josh KatzowitzChanning Crowder, LB, Dolphins: This, of course, is not a surprise, but Miami will miss him on the inside of its 3-4 defense. Look for Tim Dobbins to get his playing time, but he's also gotten plenty of work in the preseason with Crowder's absence.Michael Bush, RB, Raiders:Darren McFadden will start, and that actually might not be the worst thing in the world for QB Jason Campbell. You have to like McFadden's veteran leadership, and he might actually provide some relief for Campbell. Julian Edelman, WR, Patriots: He was questionable coming into today's game, and with no one sure how Wes Welker will perform for a full game, losing your No. 3 WR is a tough blow against a Bengals secondary that will be tough. But look for rookie TE Aaron Hernandez to benefit. Brian Leonard, RB, Bengals: Unless you watch Cincinnati every week, you won't understand how big a blow this is for the Bengals. You'll be hard-pressed to find a better RB in the league at converting on third downs.

Ikaika Alama-Francis , LB, Dolphins: This is a bit of a surprise, because he had been battling with rookie Koa Misi for the starting spot. There had been some concerns about Misi's ability to hold the corner on running plays.Brian Brohm, QB, Bills: After a preseason QB battle with Trent Edwards and Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brohm is officially the No. 3 behind starter Edwards and backup Fitzpatrick.

Demaryius Thomas, WR, Broncos: Thomas is battling a foot injury, but this is disappointing for the first of Denver's first-round picks. Thomas practiced all week, but apparently, he's not ready to play.

Smith was traded to the Lions. Green was cut. Quinn has looked horrendous this preseason.

And Kizla is not impressed:

We salute McDaniels for not letting his ego get in the way of ushering Smith and Green to the exit.

But McDaniels had better be right on first-round draft picks Knowshon Moreno, Robert Ayers, Demaryius Thomas and Tim Tebow. If the Broncos fail to develop anything less than two Pro Bowl players from that quartet in the coming years, then the 34-year-old McDaniels will be long gone from Denver before his hair turns gray.

With Smith, Green and the $600,000 in bonuses paid to Brandon Stokley – placed on the IR list until he’s healthy enough to be cut – that’s about $6 million of dead money for the Broncos this season. But as the blog points out, that’s less than what Seattle will pay for T.J. Houshmandzadeh (cut Saturday and owed $7 million guaranteed) and Cincinnati has paid Antonio Bryant (released and paid $8 million).

The MHR makes a good point, but Kizla’s point is well taken also. McDaniels has made some high-profile moves in his short tenure, and some of those moves have not turned out well. If his decisions continue to haunt him and his squad, he won’t be around for the long-term.

You may have seen some of our tweets about 2010 BFL, a fantasy league full of famous bloggers (woo oxymorons), in which I'm repping CBSSports.com and this here blog.

For the draft, we traveled to New York City this past Thursday in order to all meet up and create fake teams. The trip seems pointless, until you realize that we drafted in the NFL headquarters. Yes, like where Roger Goodell works. Yes, it was spectacular. Yes, the winner of the league gets some Super Bowl action as well as a large charitable donation to the local charity of their choice. Yes, you will have to suffer occasional posts about how I'm doing (and you can read more about the league here .)

And yes, I'm quite confident I'm winning; after all, look how alert I was just moments before the draft began.

Of course, that didn't stop me from drafting a kick-A fantasy team. Or at least one that I think kicks some A. Before we get to that, though, let's talk about the participants, in draft order:

By the by, you can actually check out the P&G sponsored league , as it's public I belive. So if you care to see the draft results, here they are. If not, I'll tell you about them anyway.

First of all, I heart my team. A lot. I'm totally fine with taking Maurice Jones-Drew second overall, especially after seeing how the Vikings offensive line looked on Sunday. I really, really wanted DeAngelo Williams to fall to 23, but I'll deal with Beanie Wells. DeSean Jackson is a clear No. 1 wideout, so I'll absolutely take him in the third round. Wes Welker in the fourth? Yes, please.

Dwayne Bowe is primed to blow up this year (I like the Chiefs a lot, actually), so having him as a WR3 isn't something I'm unhappy about. Myself and two others waited to draft a quarterback and I think it paid off nicely with a combo of Matt Ryan in the sixth and Matt Cassel in the 11th.

Didn't particularly love my Jerome Harrison pick in the seventh -- although I ended up with Owen Daniels at tight end in the 10th, leaving Tony Gonzalez and Vernon Davis on the board at that point was just stupid. Kenny Britt I like as a solid backup wideout, especially paired with Julian Edelman on the bench; Edelman's insurance if Welker goes down again and Britt can fill in on the bye.

Marion Barber is still starting in Dallas last I checked, no? Okay, thought so. 9th round for him is silly. Levy hosed me on Dexter McCluster in the 12th and I panicked a touch and took Demaryius Thomas, but, again, I think he's a good backup, particularly since someone has to catch passes in Denver. Niners defense, as good as it is, in the next to last round is something I'm thrilled about, insofar as one can be thrilled about drafting a D. Same with Rob Bironas in the last round, I suppose.

It's not worth discussing any other teams. They're clearly inferior to mine. (I do like Bassett, Jerod and Zerkle's teams the best out of the other squads, though, I think. Except that Zerkle decided to draft a sampler platter of running backs for five rounds instead of wideouts.) But I certainly welcome your thoughts on the squad below.

Also, huge, huge tip of the cap to everyone involved at the NFL for making this happen: they couldn't have possibly been kinder to a fairly dangerous looking bunch, or more accommodating in terms of showing us around, peppering us with cool NFL stuff and letting us spin around in Goodell's desk chair until Sebek got sick and threw up.

Just kidding. That last one never happened. But the NFL rules for letting us swing up to the Big Apple and get our geek on in their offices.

So to does P&G -- for the purposes of FTC biz, they helped hook it up.

One would think that things could not get worse for the Denver Broncos, in terms of injury problems in training camp. One would be wrong, if one thought that.

That's because Demaryius Thomas, the Broncos' rookie wide receiver, is now injured too. Thomas made what's been called a spectacular 24-yard touchdown grab in between two defenders (from the freshly trimmed Tim Tebow, no less!), but as noted by Rapid Reporter Lee Rasizer , managed to injure the same foot that was surgically repaired this offseason.

Rasizer points out that Thomas was ushered to the locker room to have an X-ray on his left foot, but was also able to walk "on his own power."

The latter is good news for the Broncos obviously, at least in terms of Thomas being able to return quickly. But you'd need to be chugging the optimism Kool-Aid to think something other than "this isn't Denver's year."

Jarvis Moss was supposed to at least help with the latter, but he too has been injured. Broncos' Rapid Report Lee Rasizer reported earlier that he left practice with a trainer examining his right hand, and now it's been confirmed that he broke the appendage and will likely require surgery and a cast, but should be able to play.

So, that's some good news, I suppose. Although when "Hey, our backup linebacker ONLY broke his hand and might still be able to play!" is second on your optimism depth chart behind, "Hey, look, our third-string quarterback's shoes are selling for $1,000 on eBay !" it's safe to say that your season isn't going swimmingly.

Though it’d make sense if the veterans absolutely hate the fact No. 1 pick Sam Bradford just got a $50 million guarantee without ever having played a down of NFL football, Tom Brady doesn’t seem upset about the deal. He tells a radio show, as captured by the Boston Herald that players of any sort (or experience) should be getting money.

Much has been made about Frank Gore’s party in Miami that ensnared a few collegiate players in the headlights of the NCAA and which might or might not have been paid for by an agent. Gore tells the Press Democrat that the controversy surprised him and he was the one who paid for the party.